Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance

Tassaa Bareesh, a matriarch in the Hutt crime cartel, is holding an auction that’s drawing attention from across the galaxy. Representatives of both the Republic and the Sith Empire are present, along with a Jedi Padawan sent to investigate, a disenfranchised trooper drummed out of the Republic’s elite Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian with a private agenda.

Unexpected and Enjoyable

I found Fatal Alliance a joy to listen to. I especially appreciated the author's combination of characters, combat, and modern science fiction tropes ..Show More »that helped create a fascinating tale. For me, the inclusion of the Jedi and Sith masters and the story surrounding them was an unexpected highlight of the book. The book was full of great moments, interesting characters, and intriguing story arcs throughout.

Notable Points: The author did such an great job with the Mandalorian. The character was a great addition and helped keep the action moving. I also enjoyed the Sith arc and was impressed with the way the author portrayed the Master/apprentice relationship. The Jedi/Commando/Smuggler story arc was also a breath of fresh air that allowed for some entertaining interactions. A surprise came from my interest in the story of the imperial spy and the additional dynamic his tale brought to the story. The author's ability to combine so many interesting characters, in addition to a great storyline, was an experience I didn't expect from a Star Wars novel.

Questionable Points: As the book approached the end, there is a moment when the Sith meets the source of the android threat. The interaction of the Sith, the source of the android threat, and the Sith's master was written well but felt a bit generic. This portion did not take up much time overall, but was a main plot point and could have been handled with the same unique care other plot points in the book were given. This was pretty much my only disappointment, but only because it was a tad predictable/traditional in execution.

Fatal Alliance is a excellent example of what a great science fiction book should be and a wonderful piece of storytelling.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived

The second novel set in the Old Republic era and based on the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic ramps up the action and brings listeners face-to-face for the first time with a Sith warrior to rival the most sinister of the Order’s Dark Lords: Darth Malgus, the mysterious, masked Sith of the wildly popular “Deceived” and “Hope” game trailers. Malgus brought down the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in a brutal assault that shocked the galaxy....

Another Great Old Republic novel

Yes, as the tittle of my review says, this novel was very well writen, placing great emphasis on the dualities of the Force. Darth Malgus gives a grea..Show More »t explanation as to what being a Sith is, from a certain point of view. Paul Kemp makes the reader actually care about the characters involved and shows how useless dealing in absolutes is (light, dark, good, evil etc.) This is enjoyed even more when the reader has watched the trailers for the upcoming MMO. The scenes in the novel are actually depicted in all its action! Thumbs up!

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan

There’s something out there: a juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic - unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it. Revan: hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians - and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but his memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares - and deep, abiding fear. What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget.

Did you play Knights of the Old Republic?

Let me first start by saying, I played the video game Knights of the Old Republic. It's very important to have played that game if you want to get th..Show More »e most out of this book. If you haven't, you're probably not going to get most of the references during Revan's part of the story.

That said, if you have played the game, this book explores most of the things that went unexplained in the game. It's really quite a fun trip. I can't wait to play The Old Republic in a month to see how this book will tie into that game as well. I'm more excited than ever to get my hands on it, which is the whole reason this book was written in the first place.

As for the audio, Marc Thompson does it again. What a fantastic narrator. It's been a treat to listen to the more recent unabridged Star Wars books narrated by Mr. Thompson.

As for people who have not played the Knights of the Old Republic, it's really hard to recommend this book to you. I hope someone who hasn't will review this book soon. If you have played it, this book is a must buy.

Annihilation: Star Wars: The Old Republic, Book 4

The Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord’s attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy. But Karrid’s ruthless determination is more than matched in the steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force - but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood.

Excelent Story and another great Old Republic book

First let me point out that I was completely unprepared for such an outstanding production from an audiobook. My typical read/listen is more of a Mich..Show More »ael Crichton or J.R.R. Tolkien book which is usually simply read aloud and I had not expected the accompanying sound effects, music, or voice narration to all come together and blow me away. I lost track of the hours just waiting for a chance to continue listening to the story.

Marc Thompson is by far the best narrator I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. While the production team may or may not have enhanced the voice for certain characters, Marc's pace and even narration will make you forget that you are in fact listening to a person reading a story, something that some other narrators make you only painfully too aware of (odd sounds, limited tone for multiple characters, annoying voice, etc.)

As for the story, if you have seen other comments about the story being average or anything short of excellent, ignore them. Take the story for what it's meant to be, an action-packed adventure by a highly adept intelligence agent set in a galactic universe. If you want to be entertained then this story more than just does the trick.

To address the Star Wars specifics about this book, it was interesting to hear about a non-Jedi as the main character since sometimes reading / hearing every other word be the "Force" gets repetitive... not that I mind because I love hearing that!!! This book focuses more on the supporting elements / figures of the Republics infrastructure with just enough Jedi / Sith involvement to make you realize that the force is very strong with this book!!

Since my discovery of this book I have worked back through all the Old Republic books and am now listening to the Thrawn Trilogy; the one constant I appreciate aside from the excellent story line is of course Marc Thompson narrations.